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Bigphil298 · 06-14-2018, 03:55 PM

I had my 98 sportsman travel trailer hooked up to shore power and the Pos terminal on my battery melted off. Is that caused by the converter? Also the last time I towed I had a short in my 7pin trailer harness with the + and - wire on Tow Vehicle the + and - terminal on the trailer connector all melted and I was thinking maybe the two issues were connected. *I did test the output voltage and found some a/c current (2.5v) on the 12v positive line. I can not think of anything else I may just replace battery, 12v breakers, the converter, and all the wiring for my 7 pin plug.

BFlinn181 · 06-14-2018, 04:40 PM

The battery should be protected by a fuse or breaker that is sized for the load the RV should produce. Likewise, the trailer plug should have a fuse or breaker sized to protect it.

Your converter has fuses or breakers on it, so it shouldn't be burning off wires on the battery. Usually, when a converter/charger is producing more voltage than it should you'd boil the battery and have all the interior lights extremely bright.

mfire1339 · 06-14-2018, 04:53 PM

Is that smoke on your propane tank??? Near battery.

Mike

twinboat · 06-14-2018, 05:09 PM

The wire from the battery probable rubbed thru and shorted to the propane tank.

The fuse, if still there, is probably a little further down the line, or in a ball of tape right at the propane tank, and to large to protect the charge line thru the trailer plug.

Bigphil298 · 06-14-2018, 05:25 PM

This it the breaker om my tow vehicle I did not find any shorts in the positive wire on trailer and the black on propane is just spray paint

egwilly · 06-14-2018, 05:41 PM

My 2 cents for what it's worth....

Hire an electrician to re-locate that battery and replace the burned wires. Have them cleanup all the breakers and connections.
Your connections appear to be rusted and probably not making good contact.

Your trailer will burn to the ground if you don't take action. It takes a lot of amps to melt a battery terminal, usually due to short to ground.

Best of luck getting this sorted out.

cfowler55 · 06-14-2018, 05:57 PM

Was the wire on the damaged battery terminal just burned at the eyelet and first inch or two of the wire, or was the insulation melted for a longer length? And was it the same gauge as the neg. wire?

Bigphil298 · 06-14-2018, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfowler55

Was the wire on the damaged battery terminal just burned at the eyelet and first inch or two of the wire, or was the insulation melted for a longer length? And was it the same gauge as the neg. wire?

Yes on the trailer exactly no other burns on the trailer wiring. I did do a short to ground test on the positive wire from battery to converter and there was no short that showed up with a continuity test. I do have a good working knowledge of 12v electrical systems I just have never worked with a camper system (120v a/c and 12v d/c) before

Bigphil298 · 06-14-2018, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by egwilly

.
Your connections appear to be rusted and probably not making good contact.

Thank you but that breaker is a month old the rust is from heat.

cfowler55 · 06-14-2018, 08:07 PM

All of the current going thru the pos. terminal also has to go thru the neg., so you should have some indication on the ground wire. And the pos. wire should shows signs of heat further down the line. If the heat was isolated to right at the pos. terminal only, I would suspect a bad connection. Corrosion , loose nut , or a bad crimp on the eyelet connector.